Improvement in hand-guides for pianos



w. 301mm.

HANDGUIDE FOR PIA-NOS.

Patented Feb.8, 1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

WILHELM BOHRER, OF MONTREAL, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND-GUIDES FOR PIANOS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,205, dated February 8, 1876; application filed January 8, 1876.

clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

It is well known to all teachers of music that the greatest obstacle which beginners have to overcome in learning the piano-forte is the extreme difliculty which they experience in keeping their hands on the proper level with the key-board, as, in practicing, the fingers and arms become fatigued from the position in which they must be held, and, unless very strictly watched, the learner is extremely apt to relieve himself by dropping his wrists below the level of the key-board, and. pressing heavily upon the keys with his fingers, and with the hands held in this position it is impossible that the fingering should be properly performed.

To cure this habit (which, as a rule, cannot be eradicated in less than two years study,) a hand-rest, consisting of a horizontalround bar placed at the level of the key-board of the piano, has been long in use, and for simpler exercises, where the hands are not required to be moved, has been found to answer its purpose, but in scaling, &c., the friction of the wrist on the bar is both very inconvenient and even painful to the player, and materially impedes the movement of the hands. Besides this, the old-fashioned hand-rest does not in any way prevent the learner from falling into the opposite extreme of raising the wrists too high--an error that many pupils are prone to, especially those who haveweak fingers, and think that by so doing they will help themselves perform their work.

Since the original hand-rest many modifications have been devised to improve upon it, but all these have had some defect which has prevented their ever coming into practical use.

I claim, however, that my invention offers a hand-rest which shall give the necessary slight support to the wrists, be adjustableto suit the requirements and knowledge of the pupil, allow scaling, broken chords, chromatic scales, and in fact any studies with parallel and counter motion, which advance the scholar in legato playing, and do not require the sudden transposition of the hands from one part of the key-board to the other. My handrest may also be adjusted to give a perfectly firm support in staccato studies performed with the wrist, and all these are performed easily and without inconvenience to the player, there being absolutely no friction on the wrists in whatever direction the hand may be moved, either forward or backward, to the right or left; and, lastly, (which I claim as one of the most important points in my invention,) it

will automatically warn the scholar if at any time his wrists are raised or depressed beyond the proper level, thus insuring that during practising hours, in which generally the pupil is left to himself, his hands will be kept in the proper position. 7

I may add that by the use of my invention a pupil will acquire with facility the power of holding his hands in the proper position, and thus the proper development of the fingers to make a good piano-forte player is attained in less than one-fourth the time usually taken to master this important point.

For fuller comprehension, however, of my invention, reference must be had to the annexed drawings, where Figure l is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a view of stand. Fig. 4 is a detail of bars, 850.

A is a bar of some such section as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and notched on its upper surface, as at A, made of metal or wood, as found most suitable, and supported in a horizontal position in front of the piano by standards a passing down through the ends of brackets B, and held at any height desired by set-screws oi or in any usual and well, known way. These brackets B are, as shown in Fig. 2, secured to the under side of the piano by a pin, 1), projecting downwardly and entering into a groove in the bracket B, which is held in place by the clip b, or these brackets may be fastened in'any suitable way so as to admit of their removal when desired. 0 is a round. bar of woodor. metal, arranged so as tojbe immediately above. the barA, and rest.-

ing on two or more spiral springs, D, secured thereto, and which are preferably arranged in some such manner as shown in Fig. 4, so as to increase or diminish at pleasure their resistance. E E are screwed pins, tapped through the bar 0, and working in threaded holes formed in the bar A. Upon this bar 0 are arranged, so as to run freely from right to left, and vice versa, on rings F, two stands or pedestals, G, preferably of some such shape as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, having formed in each of them bearings g, for an upright spindle, H, on the upper end of which is mounted a rest, I, made either of steel covered with any suitable substance, vulcanite, or any other material, these rests receiving the wrists of the player and turning freely in any direction horizontally. The rings F, which may be of smooth material, may have, if desired, as shown on the drawings, small saddlesfformed on their upper sides where the pressure comes,

so as to facilitate their running and insure its being noiseless. The two rings to each stand may also, for the same purpose, be connected by a bar, but these features are not by any means essential, and may be omitted without in any way interfering with the invention. Although these stands are, as shown, constructed plainly of wire, they may be formed of carved wood, and made highly ornamental in any way desired, the only necessity being that proper bearings 9 must be provided for the spindles H.

I will now proceed to describe the manner in which my invention is put into operation.

The brackets B having been securely fixed to the under side of the piano, the bar A and bar 0, with the stands G loose upon it, are arranged upon them, their distance from the front of the piano being according to the size of the hands of the pupil, and their height with relation to the key-board (which should be such that the rests I will be at the level of or very slightly above the keys) fixed by means of the standards a of the bar A, and the screwed pins E, which attach the round bar 0 to the bar A. \Vhen the parts are in this position, the wrist of the player is supported to the necessary extent in the rest I, and the hands may be pushed forward, drawn back, or turned in any direction with the greatest ease, and without any friction on the wrist, but it is more especially for the exercises in which the hands must be moved to right and left that the value of my invention is most apparent. The construction of the stands G, running freely by the rings F on the bar 0, allows free movement to the hands up and down the board, and should the scholar, while so doing, depress his wrist, he will lower the bar 0 (which only gives a yielding resistance) and bring the rings F into the notched surface A of the bar A, thus completely arresting his progress, and warning him of the fault he is committing. Again, should the pupil fall into the other extreme, and elevate his wrist too much, the rest will fall from under it, so that it will be seen that the pupil, to play at all, must keep his hands at the proper level.

It will, of course, be understood that I propose to adjustthe distance between the two bars so as to suit the degree of knowledge attained by the learner, allowing the beginner somewhat more of play, and arranging it so, for one who is more proficient, that the slightest depression of the wrist will bring the rings F in contact with the notched surface, and the springs may, as before mentioned, be made to give greater or less resistance, according to the age, &c., of the pupil.

The principal point of difference between my invention and the hand-rests made up to this time is, that mine opposes a yielding instead of a firm resistance to the downward pressure of the wrist, and this may be carried out somewhat differently from the way that I have already described. The bar 0 may be a flexible wooden rod, the springs D being omitted, and its elasticity giving the yielding resistance, but I do not consider this so good as the construction I have already described, as the resistance in such an arrangement would be of unequal strength.

For staccato or wrist playing, the stands can be turned down, the bar 0 brought down firmly upon A, and both raised until 0 is at the level of the key-board.

If desired, my apparatus may be made a permanent portion of a piano, all that is needed when it is not used, being to drop the stands and push them right and left, as the player is not in any way impeded, and no part of the key-board is shut out from view.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is as follo'ws 1. In a hand-rest for pianos, the combination of a bar, A, arranged parallel to the front of the piano and supported therefrom, and a round bar arranged above said bar A, and

offering a yielding resistance to downward pressure by means of a spring hearing, as herein set forth.

2. In combination with the bar 0, the stands G connected therewith by means of the rings F, substantially as described, so as to allow a right and left and also a forward and backward movement, as set forth.

3. The combination, with the stand G, of the rests I, mounted upon spindles H, as specified, so as to be capable of horizontal rotary motion, substantially as herein set forth.

4. In combination with the bar A, having notched upper surface A, the stands Gr, carrying rests I, and having rings F running upon the bar 0, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

Montreal, 5th day of January, A. l). 1876.

W. BOHRER. Witnesses:

FRAS. HY. REYNoLDs, R0131. ARTHUR KELLoND. 

